Split Second
by Precious Pup
Summary: What if McGee had been the one to open the plague letter in SWAK Season Two instead of Tony? This is me exploring the scenario as the team watches their 'Probie' fighting for his life in hospital. Team fic.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Timothy McGee or 'Probie' to his friends stood in the middle of the bullpen and handed out the mail that had come in that morning. Gibbs, Gibbs, Tony, Kate, Gibbs……..

Kate sniffed into her tissues and Tim rolled his eyes as Tony gave him grief about never having been sake bombing. Whatever. Lots of people had never been sake bombing. Seriously it was amazing Tony ever graduated College at all if his exploits were anything to go by. Tim looked down at the single envelope he had left in his hand. Huh.

"This one is just addressed to "NCIS Special Agent." Tim peered at it again closely in case he had missed something.

Tony grinned and reached over snatching it out of McGee's hand.

"I think that's mine, McGee. Huh? "

Tim frowned across at daily tormentor "How do you know? "

Tony flipped the envelope over and waggled the envelope at McGee showing off the scarlet lipstick kiss sealing the envelope.

"I recognize the lips. And the scent"

Tony dramatically wafted the still sealed envelope across in front of his nose as Tim part frowned and part pouted at him.

Tim could feel his frustration growing. When would Tony stop jerking him around? He had told himself just last night that he wouldn't put up with it anymore. He was a part of this team and had been for a while now. It was time he stood up for himself. Besides it was just an envelope.

Tim leaned over and quickly snatched the envelope back from Tony.

"Well finder's keepers" Tim said with forced smiling conviction.

Tony looked up in surprise as Tim quickly stepped away and tore the envelope open with much more force than he had intended at his bravado. And froze as a fine white powder puffed out of the envelope.

"Tony?" Tim's voice was questioning and far softer than it should be as he looked at Tony with big bewildered eyes. His mind ran through a thousand scenarios in that split second, everything suddenly speeding up as his heart pounded painfully in his chest. That wasn't what he thought it was …was it? Tony would know. Tony was Senior Field Agent he would tell him it was all a mistake. A joke. Maybe it was one of Tony stupid pranks? Oh God please…….

Tony's heart stopped and everything seemed to slow down to a freeze frame as Tim called out to him with the white powder still escaping out of the torn envelope into the air in front of Tim's face. McGee, his gentle patient Probational Agent in his ugly slightly ill fitting suit with his too young to be taken serious face ……….NO!

Gibbs shook his head at his two bickering agents as they teased each other. It was good to see McGee starting to stand up to Tony though. It showed he was building some confidence. Besides it wasn't good in the long term for the team to have Tony lording over the youngest member all the time.

Gibbs looked up just in time to see his two agents standing only a few feet from each other staring in shock as a fine white powder dispersed into the air around McGee.

Holy Shit!

Bio Hazard. Contamination. Everything they had been warned about had come to Washington. Had come to his team.

Gibbs could feel the adrenaline kick in immediately, his heart hammering as he surged to his feet and leapt onto his desk. He stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled grabbing everyone's attention.

"We've opened a letter with white powder. Use the southeast corridor to the holding room. You all know the drill." Gibbs' voice told everyone the seriousness of the situation in an instant.

There was movement immediately as everyone started vacating their desks and moved away from the site of the contamination. McGee.

Tony was carefully handing McGee a waste paper bin to collect any residue as Kate picked up her phone to issue the alert.

"Letter opened in Special Agent Gibbs's office dispersed a fine white powder. Initiating bio-attack procedures. Third floor is evacuating."

Gibbs could see McGee's expressive eyes locked onto his looking for some sort of reassurance. He needed to keep him thinking, doing. That was the best way to keep someone calm. Especially someone like McGee.

"McGee, are you up on procedures?" Gibbs barked the order as if it was just one of their regular training drills.

McGee nodded nervously, searching frantically through his memorized regulations for the ones that fit as Tony gently handed him a bottle of water to pour over his head. McGee's hands shook as he tipped the water over his head still searching for an answer for Gibbs. Think Tim think!

"Yeah…… we um….shower, burn our clothes, get our blood tested. Nobody leaves the building until the substance is identified except… except…."

Tim looked up from his rough bath to look at Tony as he trailed off trying not the use the words victim or patient or any of the other thousand horrible words screaming through his sub conscious at that moment.

Tony could see the rising panic in Tim's eyes and he gave him a big goofy grin trying to distract and reassure at the same time.

"Lucky us! Looks like we all win a free trip to Bethesda to be pricked like a pin cushion."

Kate glanced up at the air vents. "They've shut down the air. Let's hit the showers, McGee"

Tony winked lasciviously at McGee "See it's your lucky day"

Tim smiled nervously back at him and still dripping headed towards the showers while trying to stay away from the rest of the team.

Tony shot a look across at Gibbs grim face and was suddenly glad that McGee had his head down.

_(Please review and let me know if you're interested and reading. I have used some actual dialogue from the show in this chapter. Thank you to bananacosmic who inspired me with her what if SWAK fic......and her other marvelous Tony/Tim friendships of course. Precious Pup)_


	2. Chapter 1

Tony shook his head as he sat and watched McGee take another painful rattling gasp. Just hours ago they had been laughing joking around and how he was watching his young team mate go through a painful hell just to breathe.

Tony wiped Tim's pale sweating brow and noticed that there was less recognition in McGee's eyes each time he did this. He had been shocked at how quickly it had all happened. Everyone had heard of the plague, the Black Death, the harbinger of death to millions but it seemed so …well medieval. Surely modern medicine could prove its worth against so ancient a disease?

Instead Tony had watched it grab hold of Tim with vicious teeth like some deranged pit bull and within hours Tim had been reduced to a shaking, sweating, exhausted ruin of what he had been. The ultra violet lights weren't helping as they seemed to show up the dark shadows that had appeared under McGee's eyes and the constant sheen on his skin.

Tim always looked younger than he was, somehow almost naïve but now he looked almost childlike with his tall frame shrunken and swallowed up by the crisp white hospital sheets. His expressive eyes always large in his face now seemed as big as saucers as he struggled to take in the situation around him and his new fate. Tony could see exactly what McGee must have looked like as a young boy and he couldn't help the surge of protectiveness he felt towards his young charge.

When Dr Pitt had asked who had been exposed Tony had insisted he must have been as he was standing only a foot away from McGee when it happened. Gibbs had cut him a look as he knew it was more like five or six feet but he hadn't argued. If anything he had given Tony a tiny nod. McGee was too shocked to dispute any version of events as he watched already pale as more of his blood was taken away for samples.

There was no way Tony was going to let McGee be carted off on his own. He might give the kid grief every single day but this was serious and Tony knew he needed to be there. Tim was his responsibility, he looked up to him to show him what he needed to know, to keep him safe.

Besides it should have been him.

If he hadn't teased McGee so mercilessly maybe he wouldn't have chosen that instant to finally stand up for himself and grab the letter out of his hands. It was a letter sealed with a kiss. It had DiNozzo written all over it. Besides he was physically better equipped to handle a threat like this. He may only type with two fingers but he was a Phys Ed major and had kept fit his entire life. He didn't smoke and he ran regularly as well as worked out at the gym. Now Tim on the other hand……

Tony heard the painful hitch in Tim's irregular ragged breathing which he had quickly learned to recognize as a precursor to a physically ravaging coughing fit.

Tony reached down and supported Tim's shoulders and helped hold him upright as he struggled to draw any air through his mucus thick lungs. The painful sound reverberated around the glass walled room over and over as Tim struggled to control the impulse. Tony found himself making an instinctive soothing humming sound he vaugely remembered his mother making when he woke with nightmares and wasn't allowed to climb into his parents bed. During these coughing spasms Tim squeezed Tony's hand until his knuckles were white almost as if Tony was his life raft as he slowly drowned helplessly within his body. Trembling with the effort, his eyes huge in his young face Tim refused to meet Tony's eyes as he helped him lay back down onto the hospital bed. Tony unobtrusively wiped away the blood stained phlegm and spit from around Tim's lips and chin, dropping the tissues onto a growing bloody pile in the bin.

It was something they didn't talk about.

When they had first arrived Tony had made endless jokes about Dr Brad Pitt and how Kate was sure to visit them once she knew who was looking after them. He had flirted with Nurse Emma and made Tim blush with his suggestive nudges. Tony had insisted it would be like camp except that a pretty nurse got to watch them around the clock. He had even started an argument over which beds they should take, anything to keep McGee's mind off the fact that he and possibly both of them had been infected with a deadly disease.

At first McGee had just rolled his eyes and smiled nervously at Tony's antics. He had even attempted some jokes in return. Soon though Tim was wheezing and feeling dizzy and he had changed into the hospital gown and climbed into the hospital bed almost with relief. Tim had then been given a nasel canulla not because he 'needed it' but simply to 'help make his breathing easier'. Tony knew Tim didn't believe the lie but that he appreciated the attempt anyway.

As the hours slowly clicked through Tony had watched with worried eyes as Doctor Pitt and Nurse Emma had conversed quietly in the corner with a few looks directed his way. For now they had let him stay even though it was clear that McGee had the plague and he did not.

There was no joking around now though as Tim couldn't talk without expending energy he just didn't have. The was taking everything Tim had and more. If only he had been the one to open that stupid envelope!

Tony watched concerned as McGee's green pain filled eyes followed the IV tube from the needle in his arm up to the plastic bag full of antibiotics where it hung on its stand.

Tony suddenly flashed back to when he had first met McGee at Norfolk when a body turned up in a barrel of hydrochloric acid. He had been so young! He certainly hadn't inspired much confidence in him when they had first met but it hadn't taken long for Tony to see there was more to him than met the eye. They had broken into that cabin in the woods, seen the DSL line and moved the bookcase to find the little secret study.

Tony had watched admiringly as Tim's fingers had flown across the keyboard and when asked he had modestly admitted to a Masters in Computer Forensics at MIT. He had recognized by sight the substance on the screen, Isopropyl methylphosphonofluoridate or translated into something Tony could understand, Sarin Gas. At Tony's questioning look McGee had admitted to also having a B.S. in Bio-medical Engineering from Johns Hopkins.

Tony realized painfully that McGee actually knew a hell of a lot more about than he would ever want to know. Especially now. He watched as Tim's fevered mind worked through the symptoms and estimated survival rates never resting, never ceasing its restless whirl as events unfolded around him. If he was in the same situation he would prefer to remain blissfully ignorant.

Hospital gowns, isolation, antibiotics, negative pressure, IV drips of streptomycin all whirled past covered by the increasing noise of McGee's wet breathing and hacking choking desperate coughing as he struggled to stay alive.

There was a fine tremble that had appeared running through Tim's body that wouldn't stop and Tony felt an anger building in him that he was so helpless while his friend suffered. Kate had stopped by when she could to give them updates as the rest of the team tried to discover the reason for the attack. It wasn't far. It shouldn't have been Tim. He was too young, too nice.

Tony looked up with stricken eyes as Nurse Emma came in again to check Tim's vital signs. Tony didn't need to look at the chart to know that they were worse than before and rapidly heading down hill. He could see Tim fading away with each pain filled breath.

Doctor Pitt came in and placed a consoling hand on Tony's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Tony but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. It's time for you to go."

_(I do hope you are enjoying this story..although there is some major McGee whumping. There is a bit of angst for the team too really. Precious)_


	3. Chapter 2

Tim was worried. Tony was being nice to him. Maybe that did mean he was dying?

He stuffed that totally uncharitable and dangerous though back down into his subconscious. No Tony was just being nice. Ok so he was being nice by being a jerk but that was Tony.

It had taken Tim a while to figure out why Tony was being more of a pain in the ass than usual but then he realized how distracting he was and how he hadn't really had a chance to dwell on the fact he was currently in medical isolation and possibly carrying an infectious disease. It was then that he gave the infuriating older man across from him who was currently engaged in a long winded and animated argument over which hospital bed they should take, a grateful smile.

Tim felt a stab of guilt. Poor Tony. He was the one to rip open the envelope so hard it practically erupted and now Tony was stuck in here too. He wasn't even making him feel bad about it.

He really was a good guy underneath all the arrogant bravado. Although it would be nice if Tony didn't have to wait until they were both hospitalized to show it.

Tim smiled and felt himself wheeze a little. Stupid air scrubbers. When would he ever get it right? Just when he thought he was doing well and he could stand on his own two feet as an investigator something came up to show him just how much he still had to learn.

Now wonder Tony still called him Probie.

Tim flicked his eyes across to Tony and watched him flirting with Nurse Emma. Still the man had style. Even under stressful conditions he never let it bother him and just continued being super smooth DiNozzo. He felt a stab of envy at Tony's easy grace and charm. One day he hoped he would be like that.

He would cruise into the bullpen trailed by an eager probie of his own and casually mention how he had saved a valuable witness……..by doing ……….????? Something cool and interesting???

Maybe he should pay more attention to what Tony was really doing instead of just ducking his spit balls?

For starters he shouldn't let Tony's efforts go unchallenged and if they were here together to distract each other then he needed to hold up his end of the bargain.

"No Tony…I don't want THAT bed…..it doesn't look as comfortable as the one that you picked. Why can't I have that one?"

Tim launched into the friendly bickering with as much gusto as he could and missed the worried look that passed across Tony's face as he instinctively wiped the sweat from his forehead. Surely they could make it cooler in here?

****************************************************************

Kate had just returned from updating Tony and McGee about the case. Tony hadn't said much but she knew him well enough to know what was really going on. Tim was eager to talk to her but he was bracing himself upright against the bed as he did so.

Tony had brushed it off, saying that McGee was just a bit dizzy from the excitement of it all and Tim had grinned back at the gentle teasing. When Tony had turned back to face her though the smile had fallen away and she had seen the worry in his eyes. She had asked the unspoken question with a quick nudge of her chin but Tony had shaken his head.

No.

It was all there in that single motion. No I don't think I have the plague. No symptoms yet. I'm not the one that might die……

Kate knew she had to keep focused on the case. The team was already two members down and every hour counted. But she knew she needed a moment to herself. A moment to calm and center her almost panicked thoughts. As she left isolation and strode though the maze of white hospital corridors she had seen the over head sign and made a quick divert in her journey.

Hospital Chapel

The room was small and reasonably bare but just stepping through the doors she felt a sense of peace. Kate took a seat in one of the pews in front of the little alter and took a moment to center herself and allow the calmness to wash through her. Her faith while private was such a large part of who she was and it helped her face the long cold nights this job could bring.

_Dear Lord,  
Please watch over my friend Timothy McGee as he approaches dark hours  
Help guide him and give him solace  
Lend him your strength to help with his pain and your comfort for his anguish.  
And if you choose to have him beside you Lord then let his soul rest easy and not be afraid_

Kate wiped away a tear and considered Timothy McGee who had essentially become the little brother of their functioning dysfunctional team. While Kate knew all about brothers she had never had a little brother.

It might have been nice to have someone younger than her that she needed to look out for. Kate tried to imagine Tim as part of the raucous Todd household.

In a masculine household where footballs flew through the air, various sporting equipment littered the house and her dolls were regularly taken hostage Kate had quickly learnt to stand on her own two feet. The stairwell of her family home had always been littered with hockey pucks, huge sneakers and discarded unread books and she was often reduced to shouting to be heard over her brothers infamous rock band 'The Grommets' rehearsing in the garage.

Kate shook her head as she tried to imagine quiet studious McGee surviving in such an environment.

Kate knew her mother would approve of Tim's elegant manners and kind eyes immediately and would probably bake him a batch of double fudge brownies for which she was justifiably famous.

Although if her brothers had ever found out about his poetry and being an online 'fairy' though he would have been slaughtered.

It was her mother who taught her how to be a lady but it was her brothers that taught her how to fight.

It was almost ironic that of all the members of her family that she was the one who joined a Federal Agency, and the Secret Service at that while her brothers went on to be teachers and accountants and graphic designers.

As she thought of her brothers with more fondness than she had felt for some time she sent them a quick prayer. Whatever arguments they may have had she loved them all dearly and she was glad they were at this moment safe and healthy.

Kate's mind drifted to the other infuriating man in her life. Tony. From what she had learned he was an only child and yet he seemed to have received even less attention than Kate had perpetually lost in a swarm of siblings, friends and neighbours children. McGee definitely seemed to have filled the roll of little brother for him. She smiled as she thought of all the teasing and paper throwing and Tony's endless posturing as he tried to impress Tim that made up their daily routine.

She had seen during her visit how Tony was trying to keep up McGee's spirits with his continued teasing and McGee had even joked about her taking his place in isolation with Tony.

Kate had just laughed.

"Can you imagine me stuck in there with just Tony for company?? He would drive me insane. I would probably be forced to kill him myself. Sorry McGee I'm afraid you're stuck with him."

Tim had smiled as Tony pulled a face and complained about them ganging up on him. She left them with a smile and a waive and was somewhat cheered by the bickering that seemed to break out between the two men.

Before she stepped away for the final time she had turned and quickly placed her hand against the barrier between them and Tony had placed his hand on the other side of the cool glass matching it. It wasn't a hug but it was something. It was then that Kate saw the cheerful mask of a moment ago slip off Tony's face and he looked at her with sad eyes as Tim hunched over and struggled through another painful coughing fit. The sound of it even muffled through the glass was horrendous and she had had to leave then before Tim saw her tears and undid all of Tony's careful nonchalance.

_Lend Tony the strength to continue to be the great and caring man he truly is at heart._

She knew Tony tried to hide it but essentially he had a very large heart beating under all that chest hair. Tony…….

Kate felt her hands tremble slightly and she stilled them. No Tony was right. That was one of the things that made her so mad about him. He at least would be ok. Kate didn't know how she would handle both of her boys being dangerously ill.

The image of wide eyed McGee in his baggy grey gym sweats as he faced her in the ring suddenly popped into her head. She had lost her temper that day and then felt remorseful as McGee hadn't really been the cause of it. She had apologised to him later that day in the elevator and he had accepted graciously as usual.

What occurred to her now though was not that she had essentially wiped the floor with him but that he had simply kept coming. Each time she flung him to the floor he would groan and simply get up and turn to face her again. And again. And again.

A fighter. He might not look like it but Tim would fight with a sort of ruthless persistence he demonstrated in everything he did.

Yes.

Kate took in a deep breath and felt more at peace with herself. She stood and left the small chapel with firm resolve back in her step. It wasn't over yet and the fight had just begun.

Besides she really needed to get back to NCIS before Gibbs really did kill her.

*******************************************************************

Tim tried to keep his breathing shallow as it hurt when he took a deep breath. He felt kind of embarrassed at how weak he was. Tony seemed to be fine. Then again he was a lot fitter than he was. And practically indestructible. Not that he would EVER tell Tony that. He would probably get himself a cape with a big T on it.

Tim found himself regretting the bowls of sugary dinosaur cereal and breakfast burritos he loved. If he….. no WHEN he got out of here he was going to get fitter and he was going to loose some weight. Perhaps Abby might take him a bit more seriously if he wasn't so…well cuddly. Not that he minded her hugs and things….Tim found his mind rambling.

Hurts…..

Tony had helped him change into a hospital gown and shielded him from Nurse Emma's view, although he had made some cracks about how was only doing it so he wouldn't inadvertently flash his tattoo. To be honest Tim didn't particularly care why Tony was doing it and he found himself crawling gratefully into the hospital bed. The crisp sheets felt cool against his heated skin.

Tim couldn't meet Tony eyes as he handed him a glass of water after another wracking cough left him hunched over and trembling. He sipped the water tentitively.

He was afraid.

_(Thanks for the reviews and alerts on this story. This is my first crack at writing Kate so I hope she rings true. Thank you Precious)_


	4. Chapter 3

Abby wiped away a tear and tried not to let her eyes drift over to the other bench and chair where McGee should be sitting. No. She needed to focus. She needed to run her tests and get the information so she could save the day.

Just because her sweet gentle geeky Timmy was laying in hospital trying to fight off what they now knew to be an antibiotic resistant strain of …….

Abby bowed her head for an instant as she saw the smile he would sometimes give her when he thought no one was looking. One of those smiles that would light up his whole face and would always leave her breathless.

And one day she might even have the guts to tell him that.

Abby stood straighter and plastered a smile on her face. No she was going to find the clue that would lead them to this dirt bag…and hopefully a cure.

Kate had come in earlier and told her that Tony had been removed from isolation although he was staying at the hospital under observation. So now Tim truly was alone as he fought his battle. Abby had wanted to ask Kate how McGee was but she hadn't at the same time. She didn't really want to know. She already knew too much about the disease and the destruction it could wreak on a human body.

Besides Abby knew it was bad by the way Kate found it hard to meet her eyes.

Really bad.

Abby's eyes drifted across to the empty chair again as she thought of the man who loved to hold her in the dark and keep her safe.

"Timmy….I'm going to be so mad at you if you die"

*******************************************************************

Gibbs' mind spun as he considered what Dr Pandy had told him.

"_There is no antidote. I developed a vaccine, not an antidote. It's of no use once the victim is infected_. _It has a suicide gene that stops it from replicating after thirty two hours….as a security precaution. If it's over thirty two hours since the specimen has been infected, all of the Y. pestis is dead. _

_However, the damage will have been done." _

Damn it! McGee was not going to die….not on his watch. Not with the rest of the team just standing by helplessly watching him slip away. Not with Tony lending him every ounce of DiNozzo persistence he could muster. Oh God…Abby! There was no way he was going to be left to tell Abby that her on again, off again thing she shared with McGee was finally over.

Gibbs thought about every session he had spent in the gym with Tim and the rest of the team showing them things that might one day save their lives. He should have pushed Tim harder, insisted he got fitter and not just met the standard requirements. McGee would have grumbled and sighed but he would have done it. He always did everything Gibbs asked of him. As team leader he should have insisted!

In that instant all he could remember was tiny Kate kicking McGee's butt in the ring.

No.

Gibbs mentally 'Gibbs slapped' himself. He shouldn't think like that. That was because Kate was trained in combat maneuvers not because McGee was weak. McGee needed to know they all knew without a doubt that he would pull through.

Because he would.

Gibbs wouldn't allow any other option.

Gibbs saw McGee peering timidly over the top of his computer monitor too afraid to ask a question but more afraid of what might happen if he didn't……..

Damn it! It wasn't fair. All the things he had been teaching McGee procedures, accuracy with his gun, to think outside the box, the secrets to interrogation, how to process a crime scene, handle evidence and he is taken out by opening a damn envelope that had already passed through security procedures!

Fifteen percent survival rate. That was what Doctor Pandy had told him.

"_He has the same chance of survival as those infected in plagues of the past, probably better since he will be healthy and young." _

_  
"What was the survival rate of the past?" _

_  
"People were weakened by depleted crops, bad nutrition. ."_

_  
"Damn it! What was the survival rate?!" _

_  
"Fifteen percent." _

Yeah well NCIS Special Agent Timothy McGee was going to be in that fifteen percent. Gibbs strode into the isolation room and was confronted by Doctor Pitt.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Who the hell are you?"

"His boss. The bug has a suicide gene. It's dead. It's been dead for over an hour. He's no longer infectious."

Gibbs side stepped the Doctor and leaned down over the bed trying not to be horrified by his agent's physical deterioration since he had last seen him. All that was left was a sweaty, bruised and shadowed shell who twitched, wheezed and gasped relentlessly. Tim's full bottom lip was stained with his own blood from coughing up remnants of his own tissue and his face was strained with a strange UV tinted pallor.

Gibbs whispered, his blue eyes fierce "McGee listen to me. Are you listening?"

McGee's eyes were open and pain filled as he slowly gasped a shallow painful rattling breath. His voice was weak and rough and yet horrifically wet sounding as he faintly answered.

"I'm listening……….. I'm listening, Boss."

Gibbs leaned even closer and made sure his eyes were locked onto Tim's. He wanted to make sure that Tim understood down to his very bones what he was about to say.

"You will not die, you got that? I said, you will not die."

Gibbs then very gently tapped the back of McGee's head. It was to reinforce the order but it was also to remind McGee of happier times past and hopefully of times to come.

"Why?" Came the weak gasping response from the trembling, agony ridden shell of his agent and for the first time Gibbs felt shocked to his core. Why?? Why should he live??

Gibbs blinked and realized once again how different his agents were. Tony would have simply obeyed the order. He needed the reassurance that someone cared and once he had that he would fight until he had nothing left.

Kate had her faith and her family and her desire to simply live a good life.

But McGee? McGee wanted to know why he should continue to fight through a body wracked with pain where every breath felt like the end and set his lungs on fire so he burned from the inside out. Burned while he drowned.

Tim was analytical, a man of science and he needed his mind to override his body's exhaustion and his physical pain. He already knew the figures. He just wanted to be reminded of why he would be in the fifteen percent.

Gibbs could see the terror in Tim's big eyes as he battled hard for every second of consciousness and Gibbs fought down the sudden impulse to simply let the boy go.

No!

Gibbs grit his teeth and leaned in with a fierce whisper.

"Because it's not your time McGee! This is not how you die, you got that? You have got too much to learn. You're a good agent and you're going to be a great one, one day. Besides I need you around to help keep DiNozzo in line. Hell one day you are going to have Probies of your own to train. There is life outside of this hell McGee and I know you know that still. You are going to get married and have kids and maybe even publish one of those stories I know you're working on. Damn it you may end up running the agency on day. So that's why McGee!"

Gibbs stood back up and watched to see if he had given Tim enough to keep fighting. Enough to give his body the time it needed to make its own inroads into combating the disease.

Tim's eyes were still afraid but they seemed more determined and he nodded awkwardly to Gibbs as another mighty tremor shuddered through his useless frame.

Gibbs found himself praying as he watched his youngest agent, a man he himself had brought into the team, fight for his life.

…_come on Tim just one more breath….just one more…just take them one at a time_

Tim took in a great shuddering painful wheezing breath ………

And died.

(

_(Don't worry...before you throw rocks at me there is still more to the story and do please review. Work is busy now but an update shouldn't be too far away. Thanks Precious)_


	5. Chapter 4

Gibbs stepped back as a surge of nurse and doctors swept him away from Tim's bedside as the machines beeped urgently and wailed their mechanical panic into the glass room.

"You'll have to leave now Sir"

"What are his vitals?"

"Get the crash cart in here!"

"I'm sorry Sir but you are going to need to leave"

"Clear"

Gibbs couldn't see Tim over the huddled bodies surrounding him. He stood horror struck, his fists clenched at his sides while a small nurse persistently steered him towards the door.

"No!" Came a harsh whisper that Gibbs realized an instant later had come from him. No he couldn't be here. He couldn't be watching his young agent die. It wasn't meant to happen this way. It was all just so wrong!

He had lost good men before in the heat of action. That was war. It was terrible but it happened. But to loose his youngest agent in the middle of headquarters to a poisoned letter? To loose the one that depended on him the most to lead him? To train him and keep him safe?

Oh God! He was going to have to tell his family that their only son was dead. He was going to have to tell his team that Timothy McGee was dead. He felt an icy cold sweat break out over his body as he saw another wasted life, another eulogy being made at a sad little funeral. The screaming silence of an empty desk and an empty chair.

Tony would never be able to say Probie again without……Gibbs felt his heart pounding and a roaring in his ears.

Damn it! It was all his fault! He had been the one to bring the kid onto the team. And now he was dead after less than a year. It was too much of a stupid damn waste!

_Beep_

Gibbs head shot up at the sound of the heart rate monitor. Oh God Please. He had already lost so many not the boy too.

_Beep_

Gibbs looked up at Dr Pitt with wild hope in his eyes and when he nodded back with a grim but triumphant smile Gibbs almost dropped to his knees with relief.

_Beep._

What a glorious sound! Gibbs sucked in a deep breath of his own and grinned at the little nurse who had still been directing him persistently ever backwards towards the door. She smiled with a twinkle in her eyes that Gibbs could see over the mask she wore.

"I'm sorry sir but he still isn't stable yet and I must ask you to leave"

Gibbs nodded almost giddy with euphoria. He was alive! Every minute Timothy McGee fought the collapse of his own body was one step closer to him being in that fifteen percent.

Fight Tim! FIGHT!

*****************************************************************

There was an ominous silence as he waited…and waited. The clock on the wall seemed to tick slower and slower as he waited patiently for news.

Tick

T i c k

T i c k

T i c k …..

God he HATED hospitals. They always had cheap coffee and uncomfortable plastic seats and out of date magazines. Gibbs had disappeared into Isolation only moments ago but it felt like hours.

"No! Let me GO!"

Tony turned in surprise as the heavy oppressive silence was broken by a young girl with wavy long dark hair who wrestled her way through the outer door struggling with an orderly.

"Let me go NOW! You don't understand I have to see him now!"

Tony stood as the whirlwind stamped on the orderly's foot and made a bolt toward Isolation.

"Hey there. You can't go in without permission. It's Isolation for a reason."

Tony grabbed the girl and tried to calm her but instead she seemed to direct her furious rage to him instead.

"How dare you? I need to see him now! They called me and I have to be there. He can't be on his own. I have to see him and make sure he is all right. It's a lie isn't it? A conspiracy? I mean who gets the plague right? You in on it aren't you? LET ME GO!"

Tony struggled with the armful of panicked distressed girl in his arms and suddenly what she was saying seemed to make some sort of sense.

"Wait….Sarah? Are you Sarah? McGee….. Um Tim's little Sister?"

The struggling lessoned and Tony looked down into young tear streaked eyes.

"You know him?" Sarah tried to tuck her wild hair behind her ears and look belligerent and only succeeded in looking small and lost.

Tony smiled sadly "Yeah I'm Tony DiNozzo. I'm his…….I'm his friend."

At that instant Gibbs re appeared through the double doors with a look on his face that Tony had never seen before. He wasn't sure if it was good or bad news only that Gibbs didn't seem to know either.

A nurse appeared from behind Gibbs and spoke to him firmly and then looked over and included Sarah and Tony into her statement as well.

"You need to stay here until he is stable again. Then and only then will you be able to see him. When that time comes someone will come and collect you. Until then you are to stay HERE."

With a firm nod she disappeared off through the doors leaving Gibbs to stand in the corridor. He turned to look at his Senior Agent who appeared to have collected a pretty and very young teenage girl in the few minutes he was away.

"Uh Boss? I would like to introduce you to Sarah McGee"

Gibbs plastered a smile onto his face and tried not to hear Tim's last rattling gasp echoing through his mind.

"Hello Sarah. I'm Agent Gibbs"

There were some awkward pleasantries as they shook hands and finished the introductions. Gibbs wasn't sure if he had walked into some sort of confrontation with the tension the girl seemed to be almost vibrating with.

The three very different people sat on the uncomfortable hospital chairs and waited for the time that they might be able to see their friend, brother and team mate again.

Tick

T i c k

T i c k

*******************************************************************

"Sarah McGee? Agent Gibbs and DiNozzo? You can all come with me now. Sarah I understand that you want to see your brother. You may go in and see him but you will need to wear a mask and make sure you are all scrubbed down so they know you're not carrying anything risky. He is very weak at the moment and we don't want him having to fight off anything else. You can only go into Isolation one at a time and we ask that you only take a few minutes. Don't be afraid if he doesn't respond to you. Just let him know that you're there."

Sarah nodded, her mind distracted as she was guided through the process of gowning and scrubbing up. And then she was there. In the strange glass room full of empty hospital beds and weird purple light.

Alone.

One of the beds wasn't empty though. She moved slowly hesitantly towards the one closest to her. She tried not to be horror struck at the weak, pale figure in the bed with the dark shadows under its closed eyes and the constant wet rasping sound as it tried to breathe.

That wasn't her brother!

Tim was always so much bigger than her. It was one of the things that would tick her off. He could always reach the things she couldn't, shift the boxes of books that were too heavy, stop her reaching him with a long arm. Suddenly looking down at him so pale and fragile in the bed he didn't seem so strong and tall anymore. Sarah sat beside him carefully taking in the heart rate monitor and IV drips and oxygen feeds the stranger that had once been her brother was now attached up to.

She had only seen him two days ago!

All the things she had wanted to say to him just withered as she struggled to voice anything past the continent sized lump in her throat.

Damn him!

Sarah angrily flicked a tear away with the edge of her palm and broke the silence that seemed to be crushing her.

"I am so ANGRY at you right now Tim. Scaring me like this. It is just so STUPID. Who gets the plague? I mean seriously? Attention grabbing maybe? You couldn't just go and get shot. Or fall down something. No you have to practically …..I mean the plague??"

Sarah gripped Tim's hard fiercely and then looked up at Tony through the glass and suddenly for the first time Tony could see the resemblance to her big brother. Under her teenage extremes and her sarcastic temper her big expressive eyes showed her fear and desperation.

She sat there gently stroking his arm just trying to let her presence reassure him that everything would be ok. A nurse outside the room smiled and tapped her wrist, telling her that her time was up. Sarah leaned down and gave Tim's hot damp cheek a gentle kiss before she left the hated room with its UV lights and negative pressure doors. She headed instinctively towards Tony and Gibbs who waited on the other side of the room.

"Hey Sarah, He's going to be fine"

Tony smiled and tried to look reassuring even as his heart recovered after hearing Gibbs' quiet private words to him that McGee had already died once.

As if a switch had been flipped suddenly once again Tony found himself the focus of an emotional teenage Sarah McGee as she turned on him.

"Fine? FINE! You don't understand. Of course he is going to be fine! He's always fine! When Jacob Riley convinced him to jump off the garage roof after building wings out of kites he should have broken his head open. He was FINE!

When he crashed his car and shattered his leg? He was FINE! He was in traction and he still has some metal pins in his leg but he's fine! He had to do physical therapy and he was in so much pain but he was FINE! He made it through the physical to become a Federal Agent….he doesn't even have a limp. He's FINE!

That's the way it is. He's the sensible one. He's the nice one. He's the one that looks out for me and stops ME doing stupid things. He's not allowed to die. He's going to be FINE!"

Sarah took a great big trembling breath and suddenly burst into tears at the thought that her stupid big brother might not be fine.

"Hey there" Tony instinctively pulled the girl into his arms and held her tight as she sobbed her anger and despair out into his shirt. Tony found himself rubbing circles into her back as her harsh wet crying slowly changed into a sort of hiccupping, sniffing, choked breathing.

Gibbs met Tony's eyes with a small smile and then walked away to speak to one of the many hovering doctors allowing them a moment of privacy.

"Are you ok?" Tony waited until they were alone and then pulled back hesitantly and looked down at the girl in his arms honestly not sure if she would hit him, swear at him or thank him.

Sarah rapidly blinked her eyes, her dark eye lashes spiky with tears and looked up at Tony sadly. Quietly, her voice raspy she started talking.

"We had a big fight…..or well I should say I was mad and yelled at him. I wanted to go to a party but Mom said no. She asked Tim what he thought and he said he didn't think it was a good idea. Just because Jena Douglas's older brother and his friends might have been caught drinking and smoking down by the Lake last time does not mean that it would be unsupervised this time."

Sarah bit her lip nervously and dropped her eyes to the floor. Tony was pretty sure she was an intelligent girl who knew perfectly well what would have been going on at that party. Those were the sorts of parties he knew ALL about. And it seemed that as Big Brother Tim knew about them to.

Tony guided Sarah over to the row of chairs and sat down next to her knowing she needed to confess, that the guilt was part of the reason for her anger. Tony simply waited and kept hold of her hand, knowing the silence would do more good than anything else.

"Anyway I yelled at him and told I hated him and….and that I ….. I wished he would die…I told him he was a stupid big brother and that I hated him."

Sarah's voice became very small and Tony could feel her tiny frame trembling in her chair.

"But I didn't mean it Tony. Not really you know?" Sarah lifted her tear streaked face up and looked at Tony before whispering "You know he's my bossy always right big brother and I always yell at him but I love him really."

Tony smiled and hugged her closer "I'm sure he knows that Sarah."

Sarah sniffed "Moms always telling me to watch my temper. She reckons it's going to get me into trouble one day. Have you got a brother or a sister Tony?"

"No But I think I would have liked a little brother or a sister to hang out with. You know someone to blame when I broke something, someone I could steal Halloween candy off, that sort of thing."

Sarah gave a small laugh at Tony's version of sibling affection before nodding and trying to claw some of her hair away from her face and tie it back again before answering.

"Sometimes it can be good. And sometimes I hate it. But we are pretty close you know? He always keeps an eye out for me. When we were little I used to have to hold his hand when we crossed the street. I hated that he always got to do stuff that I was never allowed to do. He hated that I was always allowed to get away with so much. But when it counts we are pretty tight. I _never_ told his secrets when he asked me to not say anything. Even when he was coming home from school all beaten up I never told Mom and Dad. Never told anyone….."

Sarah suddenly looked up at Tony embarrassed as she realized she had spilled a more than decade long secret. The worried look she wore on her face was so like the look McGee used to shoot him from across the Bullpen that Tony nearly laughed.

"Please don't tell him I told you. He wouldn't want anyone to know. He said he would sort it out himself and he didn't want Mom and Dad going down to the school. He said it would only make it worse. Anyway he was right. As _usual._ Whatever was happening he sorted it out. He stopped having to change his clothes when he got home and hiding the bruises. I…I think he was stepping in to stop some boys beating up on some other kid"

Tony smiled as he considered from what he knew of Timothy McGee that this seemed very accurate.

"I promise I won't say anything. Pinky swear."

Sarah looked up in surprise as Tony extended his pinky finger and with a smile she linked it with hers. Sarah looked up into Tony's eyes and he could see how pretty she was and how fiercely smart and independent.

"Thanks Tony. You're a good guy. I can see why you and Tim are such good friends."

Tony kept the smile on his face with difficulty as he thought of all the teasing and harassment he had inflicted on Tim since he had joined the team. Tim who had apparently already endured more than his fair share of bullying.

Tony promised himself that when McGee got out of here things would be different. He looked up into the glass room at its only occupant and sent out another prayer that his friend would be able to see the benefits of his promise.

_(Sorry for the wait! I kill McGee and then???? My first crack at Sarah and I hope shes not too OOC. She is younger than we see her in Season Four Twisted Sister in this scenario remember as Precious. Please review and let me know your reading)_


	6. Chapter 5

Abby tried to hold back her tears as she looked down at McGee as he lay in the hospital bed. Tony had said he was better. Much better.

He must have lied surely because if this is what he looked like better then she really didn't want to know what he had looked like when he had been worse.

She wanted to hold him so tight and never let him go.

He had lost weight even in the short time he had been sick and his skin was sallow and pale. They had turned off the ultra violet lights but the harsh white hospital lighting just showed up the dark circles under his eyes and his dry slightly blood stained lips. His adorable soft baby faced features seemed to sag and his skin seemed too hot and flushed.

The case had broken and she had finally been able to come and visit. She had only continued to work to find an answer or a cure in the hope that it might save him but he was pulling through on his own. She couldn't believe that in such a short space of time their lives had been turned upside down. It had only been really hours and McGee had almost died and now hours later he was slowly (apparently) getting stronger. But it would be weeks until he was back at her side where he belonged. Until then she would have to be the one that looked out for him.

Tim opened his big eyes and Abby tried to smile and hide from the pain she saw there.

"Abby" Tim's voice was so faint and weak she wanted to cry.

She saw him try to smile and knew he was doing it only to try and make her feel better. Abby bit her lip and looked down at her sweet gentle friend. How like him to be in so much pain and try and make her feel better.

She knew him though.

She knew him as a friend, colleague and even as a lover. They had spent hours by each others side and she knew.

She knew that he was afraid.

She knew that he was in pain.

She looked around and checked that for now they were alone. And then she gently held him in her arms and whispered softly into his ear.

"It's ok Timmy. You don't have to be brave with me. I know you're scared and I know it hurts. And that's ok I'm here now."

Tim inhaled the scent of her shampoo and her love and suddenly started crying desperately. The hot salt tears seared his tired eyes and coursed down his cheeks but now he had started he couldn't stop. It hurt to cry and it hurt to breathe but he knew he couldn't keep it in any longer. He wasn't Tony and he wasn't Gibbs who seemed to be able to look death in the eye and not care. He had been so frightened and he was still so scared at what was happening to him.

Even if the others didn't know he knew how close it had been. He had nearly died. Everything he had wanted to do with his life would have been unfinished.

Abby ran her hands up and down his arms and continued to hold him as he cried and trembled in her arms. She would never tell anyone about this and that he trusted her enough to reveal himself without the barriers of bravado and deception warmed her.

Tim cried and gasped and allowed himself to be comforted as he relived his terror of drowning helpless inside his own body until exhaustion over came him and he fell asleep in Abby's arms.

"Shussh now Timmy I will be here. I will always be here. Sleep now. You will be safe."

*******************************************************************

When Tim woke hours later he was in pain and felt exhausted from the energy he had expended crying into Abby's shoulder. At the same time though he felt strangely better somehow, more relaxed and the knot of fear he had in his belly had dissipated.

He hurt and he was tired but he was alive. And he was going to stay that way.

She had stayed with him for hours and every time he woke or twitched she had reached for him and gentled him and talked quietly to him until he had fallen asleep again. She had wiped the evidence of tears from his cheeks with a cool cloth and straightened his disturbed blankets so he looked peaceful. The last time he had woken she had kissed him on the cheek and told him his sister was here.

With a smile meant just for him Abby had told him she would come back and see him soon. Tim wanted to thank her for being there and for simply knowing what he needed even when he didn't. He struggled into a sort of sitting position and reached for her.

"Abby…….I"

She put her finger to his lips stilling them and smiled.

"I know Timmy. I know."

With that she had quietly left. And Sarah had taken up her watch with no less care and attention. And he had again slept.

Tim looked across and saw Sarah watching him from a chair beside his bed with red tear strained eyes. She looked tiny and a complete mess with her thick hair sticking up in every direction. He smiled at her and she stood and came across to his bed.

"Hey"

Tim decided he would be keeping all answers short for a while as just that one word sent flames through his chest.

"Hey you." Sarah slipped her hand into his and put on her best 'bossy' face

"You really should get some more sleep you know Tim. You look like crap"

Tim smiled at Sarah's familiar politeness and allowed himself to succumb once again to the soft painless visions of sleep.

*******************************************************************

"Hey McGee!"

Tony stuck his phone inside the door and wiggled it before poking his head around into the room.

"I need you to say _Luke I am your father_. That voice you got going at the moment is just perfect. I want to put it on my answering machine"

Tim just shook his head and didn't bother to reply. Tony grinned and stepped into the room the relief that his partner was conscious evident on his face.

"Hey Tony."

Sarah gave Tony a quick waive and a greeting before she returned to Tim's bedside and gave him a kiss on the cheek. She smiled down at her big brother before pronouncing with an eye roll that she was leaving.

"I better go now Tim and let you have some more rest. Mom and Dad won't be far away. I'm collecting them off the plane from their holiday you rudely interrupted by practically dying in a couple of hours.

So now I'm going to go home and shower and change and hopefully have a nap myself. I want to have some energy to face Moms massive freak out when she sees her precious baby in hospital. And you know Dad's going to pretend he's ok but he will go all quiet and won't stop squeezing your hand until you get pins and needles in it. And then they will automatically be worried about me too and they are going to fuss like crazy over me and we will probably end up having a big fight.

So don't forget you are going to owe me BIG TIME. I want you to remember that when it comes to Christmas this year. Don't be stingy Tim."

Sarah stood smiling with her hands on her hips giving Tim one of her patented 'I can't believe what a situation you have put me in' sort of looks.

Tony laughed at Sarah's jaded description of her family. "Sounds like good times Sarah, good times."

Sarah just poked her tongue out at Tony and rudely pulled a face.

"Hey Sarah! You just let me know if you want to cry into my shoulder again Ok? I'm going to need a new shirt." Tony held his arms out and indicated his very expensive, stylish and currently extremely rumpled shirt he was wearing.

Sarah simply laughed and punched him in the shoulder as she left.

Tony made an 'owww' face and rubbed his sore shoulder before turning back to McGee.

"Hell of right hook your sis has there Probie"

Tim's weary bloodshot eyes narrowed and he attempted to struggle further upright in his bed. Tony and Sarah? Over his dead body. Ok there was probably a better decription he could use. When hell froze over? Yeah that was better.

"What were ……..you doing ……….holding my …….sister Tony?" Tim gasped suspiciously

Tony laughed and perched casually on the end of Tim's bed.

"Oh you know the usual damsel in distress stuff, stop her taking out an orderly, being her punching bag, listening to her telling me how great you are for hours at a time. Blah blah hero worship blah blah"

Tim concentrated on his painful breathing for a moment as he glared at Tony and Tony finally realized that McGee was being serious.

"Uh no no no I have no plans regarding your sister. I mean she is your _sister_. Pretty and kind of spunky…."

Tim's glare intensified and Tony back peddled frantically "but totally wrong for me"

"She's way too ………young for you" Tim slowly rasped as big brother mode completely kicked in.

"And she's ….too good ……..for you. "

Tim finally finished. He looked like he wanted to say more but the effort that required seemed to be too much and he sagged back against the bed clutching and twisting at the blankets anxiously.

Tony nodded soothingly realizing that McGee was probably right He wasn't very good with women. Okay he was _very_ good with women just not in the long term. Besides he kind of liked the whole little sister thing. Maybe afterward this was all over he could take Sarah out for a milkshake and a movie?

One look at McGee who still seemed disturbed at the very idea Tony had even met Sarah and Tony decided that was probably another very bad idea. Still it was good to see him talking again.

And a little teasing wouldn't hurt would it? He knew that he promised himself he would knock it off but just once for old time's sake?

Tony grinned mischievously "So what I'm good enough to be your partner but not to comfort your sister who's upset because you had to go and snatch some stupid letter?"

Tim glared at Tony and sucked in a deeper more confident breath.

"Yes"

*******************************************************************

Gibbs watched through the glass with a smirk as his two agents started bickering again. It was a little slower than usual but there was definite affection in the tone.

Thank god it looked like everything was returning to normal.

Gibbs smiled across at Kate who had just come down for her own visit with McGee. It was good to have everyone together again. And safe.

_(Thank you to those who reviewed and alerted this story. I hope you enjoyed. Please let me know if you did. Precious)_


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